ON A SERIOUS NOTE: Pride
As I channel surf tonight I realized something…PRIDE is here and the saddest part is it wasn’t because of the changing of the calendar or the reminder messages about the pletheroa of events this month. My realizaztion came because every other channel had a gay themeed movie or documentary. Even On demand had the Stonewall story…
Now why am I writing about this? Well because a couple years ago I remember when GLBTQ media was considered risky, but now it’s being main streamed. I can’t say realized, because like straight media, it’s idealized, stereotypical fluff. I understand that many believe this is a step in the right direction, but whole being resounds with a very loud is it.
This process reminds me of the magic and witches stories hitting mainstream. Let me eleberate. First a few shows were introduced to the public. They had wonderful writers, directors, and staff, in general. But the content generally was not something that was prominent on television, movies maybe, but not television. Eventually other networks jumped on the bandwagon, even though they were met with stiff opposition. After a little time, the opposition died down. My question is what changed? What made the opposition back away and focus elsewhere? It’s an almost deadly cycle it seems, once something hits mainstream, the public becomes desensitized to the deeper issues.
This is a double edged sword, it makes it easier to get the respect wanted. But at what cost? The media uses stereotypes to paint it’s characters. Stereotype’s make money. And I conceed that stereotypes have their basis in general reality. The operative word of that statement is GENERAL. Although those stereotypes paint society with broad strokes, it’s the finer details that need illuminated.
In closing, I LOVE the fact that media networks are embrassing GLBTQ stories and media. My plee to GLBTQ at large, is don’t let the fact that our stories are seeing more and more airtime drown out our unified cries for civil rights. Although we are on the right track, some may say we are far from home. I disagree, home is not a physical place, but place of emotion, a place of passion. So keep the passion, keep the love!
Blue Fairy Godfather
